Ace - The Water Type Warrior
by Explorer Of Time
Summary: This is a story of one boy who, captured by Team Plasma with his siblings, was modified to be the world's first Pokémon human hybrid. He finally settles in Kalos, and Ace must raise a team of his own to beat the Pokémon League. Then he may find the one being he can relate to. Mewtwo. Alert: This story does not follow the main time canon of the anime or games.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter One**

_But there was a problem…_

Long ago, there was a horrible group of people known as Team Plasma. Led by a malicious man named Ghetsis, they claimed to want to free Pokémon, but in reality only wanted world domination.

This is the story of one boy, who endured horrible things under the cruel regime of Plasma…

The two children sprinted down the hall. "Alright Krookodile, Dark Pulse!" A voice cried behind them as an army of Team Plasma grunts chased the siblings down the hall. The Ground-Dark Pokémon shot a stream of dark power out of its mouth, just missing the two boys. "That was too close this time, R! We've got to hurry!" The blue-haired boy panted, almost completely out of breath, barely able to carry all the Poke Balls holding the rescued Pokémon. "Don't worry A, we're nearly there!" R, the red-haired female replied. They could see the end of the tunnel, just a bit further...

Suddenly, Team Plasma grunts erupted from the side corridors, armed to the teeth with Scrafty, Liepard, Krokorok and the like. A, the older, blue haired boy, glanced at R.

"Take the PokéBalls and run. Just make sure you don't get caught" A told him.

"But A, you can't fend off all these Pokémon just by yourself!" R cried.

"I know. But I have no choice. I need you to be safe." A closed his eyes and stepped towards the horde of grunts.

"I surrender, as long as you let my sister go. You've already taken N, and I won't let you do that to Rebekah!" A called, all the grunts hearing. A taller figure emerged. Ghetsis. The one who betrayed them, fed them lies. The one who claimed to be their father.

"A wise choice. I knew it would come to this." The man replied. He waved his hand. "Let him go."

The grunts surrounding the two children parted, leaving a clear way to the exit.

"No A!" Rebekah cried, tears in her eyes.

"Just go!" A choked, his voice full of emotion. Rebekah, facing her brother, backed away, then stumbled out of the corridor and into freedom, outside the top-secret facility of Team Plasma.

"Now..." Ghetsis crooned. Two strong grunts held A, and carried him in front of Ghetsis. "This should be fun..." Ghetsis laughed maniacally as all the people in the room dispersed.

"Come." Ghetsis ordered the two cronies, holding A. They marched behind Ghetsis.

They walked through numerous doors and hallways, when they at last reached a blue door, etched with black markings. The room A had always feared. The Testing Chamber. Inside would be Colress. Even though they had been friends before, they would have done unspeakable things to him too. This was it. A kissed goodbye to his sanity as the door was pushed open.


	2. Chapter 2

Ace – The Pokémon Warrior

**So hey guys it's Contestshipping Pro here. Well, not anymore. I've changed my name to Explorer Of Time to match my other everything.**

**New chapter yay! So this whole chapter, and probably the rest of the story, is in the first person. It is just easier for me to write and you will see better content from me. So the sorta backstory is that Ghetsis and Colress met up again (somehow) and re-re-started Team Plasma with the leftover members. This is after the defeat of Ghetsis and before you meet N in his old castle in BW2.**

**Also, Ace/A is 3 years older than N.**

**So let's get into it, yeah?**

**-Stay radical**

**EoT**

Chapter 2

As I was forced into a pitch black room, I heard a maniacal laugh as all the lights flicked on. Flashing in my eyes, I squinted and I could make out a sight I will not forget in my whole life. Dozens of Pokémon, trapped in glass cylinders with various wires attached to them, filled with a strange green liquid. I was shoved forward towards a shadowy figure. On my left - a giant Scoliopede that glowed an unusual and unhealthy red, my right – a purple Raichu. This was a twisted place that I had happened to land in. The figure cloaked in darkness turned around as light shone on the human.

It was Colress.

But there was something different…. I realised what it was when I looked around at as all the Pokémon. All red-eyed. All with a strange collar around their neck.

"Colress… oh god Colress!" I screamed as I started to break down.

Ghetsis moved to my side. "There there, son. We need to remotely sane to conduct the experiment." He chuckled. I turned my head and glared at him.

"YOU MONSTER!" I yelled at the top of my lungs. Ghetsis nodded and smirked.

"Why yes, I am" he said as he turned away, facing 'Colress'.

"Another experiment, Colress" Ghetsis calmly told the person who used to be my best friend.

"Very well Master. I shall begin the start-up " he replied, with almost no emotion in his voice. I jumped at him and held him by his collar and shook him.

"Colress! It's me! Ace! I'm right here!" I sobbed at him. But all I received was a blank stare as the security guards dragged me away towards a doorway.

"He's long gone now, Ace. And soon, you will be too." Ghetsis said, conveying his aggression, even while speaking at a whisper. As the doorway approached, I could see what was in there. There was a large, blue cage that was sparking with multi-coloured shocks. There were two tanks like the ones in the main lab near it, one on the left and one on the right. The left tank had a Greninja in it. The right tank was containing a Gallade. There were large, red tubes coming from the top of the tanks into the main machine. There were various wires coming from the bottoms of the tanks and machine, leading into the ground.

I looked to the back of the room. There was a small control room imbedded in the wall. Inside was Colress, guarded by two Bisharp. Ghetsis left me there, presumably to join Colress in the control room. I felt the release of the grunts' iron grip.

"Get in the cage, brat" one of them scowled as he pushed me towards the cage. Too broken and tired to disobey them, I stepped into the open side of the cage. The door slammed shut. I quickly glanced around, but I could see no source of force that could shut it. I heard a voice coming from the top of the cages.

"Hahaha! Surprised? This whole thing is automized by this panel in this room!" Ghetsis cackled. "You may have three questions that I will answer honestly." He explained.

"Honestly? Really?" I chuckled. Ghetsis was slightly off put by my laughing.

"Yes, boy! I'm actually going to tell the truth for once, so appreciate it!" he replied (**AN: Fire Emblem reference :3)**. I could sense a slight twang of annoyance.

"Does anyone else know about this?" I asked as my first question. "As in, other grunts, people in other organizations?" I clarified.

"I'm impressed that your first question wasn't "What is this machine". Anyway, yes. Only the high-up grunts and researchers know about this. The same goes for the other criminal syndicates. Rocket, Aqua, Magma, Galactic, all of them. Although the Hoenners weren't as keen…. Oh well, we'll show them. Won't we, Colress?" Ghetsis explained.

"Oh, we will sir!" I heard Colress's voice chip in, with more emotion than last time. Could it be because he found some sick joy in these experiments? I shuddered.

"Okay. Second question." I tried to be strong. "How long will this take?" I asked. I already figured out what this machine was.

"Aha, clever boy!" Ghetsis replied. "Oh, did I mention we can read your mind with this machine? Time well spent. But that's not the point. This whole process should take a minimum of 4 years. And a maximum of 4 years. So four years." Ghetsis replied to my second question. Now for my final one…

"Why?"I asked. I could see Ghetsis break a pleased smile from here.

"Ah, the question I was waiting for! Well, you see, Colress, I and several researchers have been experimenting on Pokémon. Making them stronger, faster. Better. We have mastered that. We don't even need the collars anymore. But they make tracking them much easier. Anyway, we finally decided to start on a human. You were perfect. Almost perfect genetic makeup, a bright and intelligent mind and passionate about Pokémon."

"We, Ace, will make you into the first Pokémon Warrior."

**So cliffhanger I guess? Reviews would be appreciated. One more chapter of 'backstory' until we get started. You'll notice when I was listing 'Teams' that Flare was absent *hint hint***

**Hope you enjoyed!**

**-EoT**


	3. Chapter 3

Ace – The Pokémon Warrior

**Hey guys its Explorer Of Time here with a new update for Ace – The Pokémon Warrior! This chapter is a direct continuation of Chapter 2! More explanation and some actual action in this chapter! Hopefully you can keep up :D Chapter 4 will definitely be the actual story. yey. Also will attach links to pictures that detail what Ace is wearing in the future.**

**Some inspiration for this story goes to my good friends Soren and 'Tina', The Paladin Prophecy (google it), Percy Jackson and various other sources. Of course, Nintendo owns all rights to Pokémon.**

**Anyway, stay radical!**

**-TheEot**

Chapter 3

"We will make you into the world's first Pokémon Warrior" Ghetsis finished. My heart sank as my fears were confirmed. Not only will I have to endure large amounts of physical and mental pain, but I will also become a tool for the very people I hate. Ghetsis saw the flash of despair in my eyes. "Ah, yes. Not surprised? I didn't expect you to be. Oh, you'll hate being controlled by us, but at the end of 4 years, you shall be ready." He chuckled as he turned away from me and towards Colress.

"Turn it on, Colress" Ghetsis commanded. Without a word, Colress flipped a comically huge lever as electricity coursed around the room. I could feel my hairs standing on end. Suddenly, a strange, glowing liquid streamed out of the two entrapped Pokémon in the other tanks. Ghetsis spoke above the hum of the machines.

"That's pure energy coming out those Pokémon. The very essence of their types. I'm sure that you know that already, though." He explained.

"Energy? Like, an energy sword or something?" I replied. Ghetsis was slightly surprised I could still talk. _Ugh, I hate people underestimating me _I thought to myself.

"No, Ace. Just. Pure. Energy." He clipped the words at their ends. **(AN: If you get that reference, I love you)**

I felt a huge shock of power enter my body. My sight flared blue, pink, black and orange. I almost collapsed. It felt like someone had just pulled out my brain tissue, played with it and put it back in entirely the wrong way. I screamed in pain. I faintly heard a cackle before I blacked out.

"Not as tough as you think you are it seems. Ace"

**4 YEARS LATER**

I groaned under the strain of my foe. I was facing a Donphan, and it was trying to crush me with a Body Slam. But I had been through tougher. This was nothing compared to my actual experiment.

I've faced multiple Pokémon and trainers since I was first 'converted' as they put it. I had learned to master the powers that were given to me. I had been shunted from Unova to Hoenn to Johto to Sinnoh to Kanto, finally ending up back here. The words of Ghetsis rung in my ears.

"_This whole process should take a minimum of 4 years. And a maximum of 4 years. So four years…. _. _Oh, you'll hate being controlled by us, but at the end of 4 years, you shall be ready." _I reminded myself that it would be soon that I will have to defeat my final foe in this godforsaken situation. The collar. I had seen what it does to Pokémon and humans alike. I would make my final break for it.

I launched several Water Shurikens at my foe. The Donphan fell of me, fainted. I was at least glad that Team Plasma chose two of my favourite Pokémon. "Well done, Ace." Ghetsis stood over me with an approving smile. "Now, for your final Pokémon enemy. Or should I say… enemies." I stood upright as Ghetsis walked towards a large cage with a sheet over it. "Behold…" He pulled the sheet off.

"Dragonite. Tyranitar. And Salamence." Ghetsis announced the three Pokémon that would be my ultimate challenge. The automated cage door slowly opened. I collected my wits as I faced my opponents. The three Pokémon, all controlled by a collar, burst out of the cage. Here was where I made my decision. Risk my life to destroy the collars, focus the Pokémon's attention towards Team Plasma (which shouldn't be hard, as Plasma have tortured them all this time) and escape, or defeat them and overpower Ghetsis. I weighed the odds in my mind as the Pokémon approached, but ultimately it was my heart that prevailed. My eyes cleared as I realised what must be done.

I focused my energy and closed my eyes. In my mind's eye (presumably due to the Psychic type I received), the collars glowed red. There were many red dots scattered all around the facility. Suddenly, a crosshair-like target landed on each one.

"Dang, this could have been useful before" I muttered under my breath. I felt a huge source of energy welling up inside of me. My rage, my hope, my optimism, my sadness, all of my emotions and thoughts gathered up into one bundle of power. I opened my eyes, glowing blue (me and my eyes). I let forth all of my power. Before me very eyes, every collar in the lab shattered, setting Pokémon and humans alike free. With this in mind, I accessed my mind's eye again and scanned the facility. Colress was located only a few rooms away from this large arena I was currently in.

Harnessing my power again, I shot a huge beam of light and power out of my right hand, creating a huge hole in the wall, leading straight to the room Colress was in, which was convenient, as there was also another thing in there I needed. I ran through the tunnel I created, launching Psycho Cuts at anyone who dared opposed me. As I ran I thought to myself _At least they did a good job at the conversion. Not only can I have more than two types, I can have far more than four moves._ This surprised me, as this is one of the only truly positive things I have thought about this whole ordeal. Maybe it was because of the tantalizing idea of freedom. I reached the room where Colress was located. As I rushed through, I saw him look at me and leap in shock.

"Ace! You're here! I'm so sorry!" he ran up to me as he started sobbing. I rubbed his back.

"There there. It's fine now. We're gonna get out of here." I soothed him in a calm whisper. As we were leaving, I saw a watch-like device on the bench. I quickly grabbed it up and pocketed it as we fled out of the room.

Just as we were about to reach the exit, the very same exit N escaped from four years ago, grunts appeared from every side. Déjà vu struck my system as I recalled this same situation from four years ago. Just as last time, Ghetsis appeared from the middle of the crowd facing us. But this time, I was armed and dangerous.

"Don't try anything stupid, Ace" he smiled at me. To his alarm, I smiled back, tipped my head back and laughed.

"Do you really think I'm that stupid or weak? You of all people should know I HATE people underestimating me!" As I yelled the last part out, I shot a giant Hydro Cannon-Psycho Boost hybrid right at Ghetsis. To his, and everyone else's, alarm, he instantly exploded. It felt good. _Too _good, in fact. "Remind me to get anger management classes after this" I whispered to Colress as the grunts, presumably out of fear, raised the huge door separating this place to the outside world. And, just as I dreamed, we followed in the footsteps of my younger brother.

**WOO CHAPTER COMPLETE! I hope you all enjoyed that!**

**Weeeeeow!**

**-TheEoT**


	4. Chapter 4

Ace – The Pokémon Warrior

**Hey guys its EoT here and thanks to a particular amazing review from last chapter, I have decided to actually NOT procrastinate and get another chapter out! This is chapter 4 I believe and should be in the present time. Hooray. Also, now since it's the holidays for me, I should be able to get even more out! Stay tuned! And because #yoloswajityoureallfajts I'm now writing in the third person. K? K.**

Chapter Four

"So what were we looking for, again?" a twenty-something man decked in a red suit and shades asked his counterpart.

"You heard the boss! We need to check out these caves for any energy!" his partner, a woman, explained to him.

"In that case, why are we standing right next to a pool?" he asked. All he could see, thanks to the dark and damp interior of the caves close to Lumiose City, was a small pool with a strange glow. He presumed it led to the outside.

"Because, stupid, this glow might signify some sort of energy!" the woman explained through gritted teeth. Of course she was stuck with this guy on his first day.

"Oh, it's energy all right" a disembodied voice echoed through the vast caverns.

"Wh-who's there?" the woman cried, instantly losing her cool demeanour.

"Is…is the glow…getting bigger?" the man addressed the medium-sized pool. Indeed the glow, which before has been about the size of a fist, had now grown to the size of a small boulder and was still growing.

"BACK AWAY!" he screamed as a beam of light burst out of the pool. The two red-clad people dived for cover. As they peeked out from behind a rock, they could see a figure standing there.

The decidedly masculine figure has sea-blue hair and eyes. He was clad in a blue trenchcoat-like coat with strange, glowing, yellow symbols on it. His sleeves were coated with black spikes, ending with a large, blue spike jutting out past his hand. His head and face was covered with a blue hood, showing no recognisable features. His undershirt was black, with sleek blue shoes and pants.

"Who… who are you?" the man asked, terrified out of his mind. He had signed up for a safe and easy first-day job, but now had found something way beyond him.

"My name…" he whipped off the hood obscuring his face. His piercing blue-green eyes locked onto the people. His hair was a spiky mass of blue hair, that would sometimes spark with energy. "My name is Ace, and I am here to smite you" he finished.

"H-hey, there's no need for that! We're just humble civilians, looking at this cool pool!" The woman explained. Ace rolled his eyes.

"I was going to let you go, but now that you lie I might have to consider otherwise. I know who you are, Team Flare grunts, and you have the information I need. Now tell me…" Ace slowly walked towards the grunts.

"WHY DOES LYSANDRE WANT ENERGY?!" Ace yelled straight at the grunts, echoing through the cave and their heads. The grunts were paralysed. Words floated through the man's head.

"If you're ever in trouble, use your Pokémon" The words of Lysandre surfaced in his recollection. He clutched a PokeBall in his right hand as he saw his partner do the same.

"Go, Toxicroak!" he yelled as a Poison-Fighting Frog Pokémon burst out of the ball.

"Help us out, Houndoom!" the woman cried as she sent out her Fire-Dark Pokémon. "Alright, use Dark Pulse!" she commanded. "Go for a Sludge Bomb!" the man commanded. But the Pokémon did not attack.

"You really think the Pokémon you enslaved would obey your commands against me?" Ace chuckled. "Tyson. And Laura. I suggest you recall your Pokémon. Or else I shall liberate them from you" Ace commanded.

"How do you know our names?" Tyson was alarmed. He was up against more than he could ever know. But the term 'liberate' made Laura remember something.

"Are you working from Team Plasma?" Laura asked Ace. Ace's face transformed into a look for pure rage.

"DO NOT EVEN CONSIDER ME A PART OF THEIR EVIL SYNDICATE! THEY WERE THE ONES WHO CHANGED ME INTO WHO I AM TODAY!" He bellowed, blasting the grunts back onto the ground. They finally realised who they were talking to.

"Y-you're the project Ghetsis was working on for ages! You're the world's first Pokémon Warrior!" Laura said, breathless. Tyson's eyes grew larger.

"Please have mercy on us, all powerful one! We will tell you all that we know of our master's plans!" Tyson said with more than a bit of fear in his voice. Ace calmed down.

"Very well. I apologize for acting rashly. It has been… a fault that Ghetsis programmed into me. I can get a bit carried away sometimes." Ace grinned sheepishly. The grunts were amazed at this sudden transformation. One second he was yelling at them and making them fear their lives, the next he was talking to them like they were all friends. They all sat down. Laura started the explanation.

"Our boss wants energy to fire the ultimate weapon in Geosenge Town." She explained. Ace nodded. "I thought as much" he murmured. Tyson continued. "I haven't been here for long, but I know we've been sent out to search for some source of ultimate power, something that would endlessly give us power." Tyson concluded his knowledge.

"That would be one of the two legendary Pokémon. But now I'm sure Lysandre has known I have been in this region for a while. He probably heard off Zinzolin or another Team Plasma goon." Ace shared his knowings of Lysandre's plans.

"I don't know if you agree with me Tyson, but I would like to know a bit more about Ace." Laura offered. Ace nodded.

"I'm surprised you haven't heard of me, especially in the criminal spectrum of things. I'm a…" Ace chose his next word carefully. "regular person who was chosen by Team Plasma to experiment on to make me more powerful. But I broke out and destroyed many of the people who helped Ghetsis, as well as the secret base they were in.

"I stole some equipment I heard some scientists talking about. They said they were going to Kalos to find out more about it." Ace pulled out the watch he picked up, as well as another watch and two rings, all with the same strange pattern on them. The grunts now saw the two fingerless gloves Ace was wearing.

"I heard that these enabled Pokémon to reach a higher level of power, so I reverse-engineered one and created some more. But that is only one of the reasons I came to Kalos. The main reason is so that I could meet the one being that knows as I do. One who was also experimented on to make more powerful, who broke out and destroyed everything. One who also has the Psychic typing. I search" Ace took a deep breath.

"For Mewtwo"

**WOO CHAPTER DOWN! Hope you all enjoyed this! Special thanks to **JacobDaGun **for leaving that awesome review that inspired me! **

**Stay radical!**

**-TheExplorerOfTime**


	5. Chapter 5

Ace – The Pokémon Warrior

**So WHATS UP! I'm going to write up a bunch of chapters for all you lovely people to read so don't expect regular updates. I should hopefully get to Chapter 10 today, so stay tuned!**

**OKAY BIG THING. THIS STORY DOES NOT FOLLOW THE TIME CANON OF THE GAMES OR ANIME**

**So let's go!**

**Chapter 5**

"I search" Ace took a deep breath. "For Mewtwo."

The two grunts' eyes turned wide. If Ace was going up against this powerful of a Pokémon, he must truly be a force to be reckoned with. Ace noted their surprise. "I'm not planning on actually capturing it, just meeting it." Ace explained. But Tyson found an error in his ways.

"Wait. Don't you need to defeat the Pokémon League to be able to access where it lives?" he asked. Even though he had only been in Team Flare for a day, he had been in Kalos his whole life, and knew all about the legends of an extremely powerful Pokémon that lived in a cave in Pokémon Village. There wasn't many Legendaries in the Kalos region, but sometimes the Elemental Birds visited, so the stories of their native Legendaries became widespread. Almost no one in Kalos remembered and/or knew that Mewtwo actually came from Kanto.

"Yes, I will need to defeat the League. That's why I stole this equipment. Being a creation of pure energy, I use other beings' energy to power myself." Ace saw the frightened looks on the faces of the two grunts. "Don't worry, it doesn't harm the being that I take energy from. Most life forms have infinite energy, if you look the right way. I presume that's why every team apart from Magma and Aqua want me. I've heard whispers of Team Rocket being in this region, and I've even seen some Galactic and Plasma grunts." Ace explained. He shook his head. "Plasma are persistent, that's for sure." He murmured.

"So what Pokémon do you want to use?" Laura asked him. Ace smiled. This conversation appeared to be turning into a Q&amp;A session.

"I've already got a couple of Pokémon planned out. In fact, I'm heading to the Sycamore Pokémon Lab tomorrow to pick up my starter. Sycamore has been a good friend of my true mother's since I was small…" Ace trailed off as a flashback hit him.

_A young, black-haired boy was playing in the street. He was kicking a ball around with the family's Frogadier. Suddenly, he heard a cry for help and a woman holding a bunch of rags ran in front of him, dropping the bundle as she ran past._

"_His name is N…" her voice faded out before she could finish the name. A horde of Team Plasma grunts (Think Black &amp; White 1) chased after the woman._

_The boy's parents came out of the house. Ace could smell pancakes drifting from the kitchen in the Unovan house, located in Nacrene City. _

"_What was that all about?" the mother, with curly, black hair asked. The father, with blond hair, looked down the street. _

"_She's past our help now…" He sighed. He noticed the bundle of rags in front of Ace. He picked them up and unravelled them to reveal a baby boy with green hair. The mother gasped._

"_Can we keep him?" Ace asked. His father looked down at him._

"_I don't think we have much choice._

_TWO YEARS LATER_

_N heard gunshots, Pokémon and humans alike screaming. He poked his head out the door of his room. The rest of his family were already there. There were four Team Plasma grunts and two Houndoom guarding the front door. One of the grunts saw N._

"_Ah, look who we have here! Now the whole family is together!" he cackled evilly. A Houndoom shunted N towards the rest of his family. N scanned the faces of the grunts. They all seemed evil and cold-hearted, apart from one. One of the woman grunts seemed to be on the verge of tears. She was playing with something in her hand._

"_What's going on Mum? Dad?" N was terrified. He had no idea of why these scary people were here. But the parents didn't even look at him._

"_You can't take them! We'll have the police after you! You won't get away with this!" His father cried. The lead grunt pulled out a gun._

"_Ah, don't you see? We already have!" The grunts pulled the trigger. Both Ace and N thrust their hands out and, suddenly, the bullet stopped, a centimetre from their father's chest. The grunts nodded. "These are the ones. Let's go." The grunt beckoned the others out as he threw a smoke grenade into the room. N felt two strong hands grab him and drag him out of the house as he slowly fell asleep. His last two thoughts were "That was much more than a smoke grenade", then "What's that strange piercing feeling into my skin?" The last words he heard before he fell into a slumber were: "This will protect you from his lies…_

Ace rushed back to the current world. "You okay, Ace?" Laura asked. It sounded like there was genuine worry in her voice.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just a flashback." Ace smiled as he explained. He didn't know how long he was out for, but it mustn't have been long. "So, the question on your lips must be: Why am I telling you all of this?" Ace asked, knowing the answer already. "Well, the thing is, I support you. When we part our separate ways, you can go back to Lysandre and tell him his target is willing to co-operate. Now, I'm not going to turn myself in, but someone needs to get rid of all the evil filth in this land, and what better way to do it than with a giant laser?" Ace laughed as he finished explaining his ideals. The grunts were dumbfounded.

"Why? Why are you so willing to co-operate?" Tyson asked.

"Well, I've got four options. Go with Rocket, and get abused the same way Mewtwo got abused. Same with Plasma, and I wouldn't consider going with them in a million years. Galactic was tempting, as they're creating a whole new universe without evil, but that would cause all the good things in the world to not exist. So you guys are my only option!" Ace finished and smiled. The grunts simply nodded.

Ace looked at his watch. "Well, time for me to be off! Hopefully we'll meet again, somehow, someplace!" he called behind him as he dived into the water.

The grunts couldn't believe that had happened. "We need proof!" Laura realised. But Ace was a step in front of them. On the ground, where he was sitting, was a letter to Lysandre.

**WOO End chapter 5! Next chapter we finally get into the actual adventure! And yes, Ace's parents will be revealed in the very end chapters. Also, the reason Ace has blue hair is due to the same thing that happened to N. The thing he was injected with caused his hair to turn blue. Don't ask.**

**-Stay radical!**

**TheEoT**


	6. Chapter 6: New Beginnings

Ace – The Pokémon Warrior

**One down, four to go! Let's see if I can hit Chapter 10 today, ey? Not much to say, Ace gets his starter, whoopdeefreakingdoodillydoop. And yes, I realise that sometimes I make mistakes with it's and its. Just ignore them, k? Thanks**

**Chapter 6 – New Beginnings **

Ace strode through the packed streets of Lumiose. This city never ceased to amaze him, with its tall buildings and bright lights. He had spent the night in a hotel, paying with the money he got from selling a very small amount of the precious jewels he had hidden. Now, he approached the building known as the Sycamore Pokémon Laboratory. He smiled, as he would be seeing a man who he considered one of his idols.

Ace looked at his watch. 11:45. He needed to see Sycamore at noon. A phrase he had heard somewhere drifted through his mind. _Always try to be early_. Wise words, he thought, as he entered the building.

"Hello Mister Ace Vindex! Professor Sycamore is currently busy with a client, so if you wait a couple of minutes, he'll be right with you!" the receptionist chirped with a smile. _So much for being early_, he thought. Ace smiled back and took a seat. Vindex was a last name he used whenever he needed to. It was a good last name, he thought, as he looked back at the receptionist. People like that always impressed Ace. People who could be constantly cheerful and alert. He wished he could be like that, and realised that he might be able to one day…

A bell sliced through his thought like an arrow. A person, probably Sycamore's client, walked out of the elevator. Ace was surprised to see Professor Rowan of Sinnoh. Ace leapt up in the presence of a very important man. Rowan noticed his recognition and nodded at him.

"There's no need for that, young man." Rowan said to him in a grandfatherly tone. Rowan wasn't known for smiling, but he was still quite a kind person.

"But of course there is, Professor! You're one of the world's leading professors! You've made huge discoveries that have changed the way we look at Pokémon!" Ace cried. He grinned sheepishly as he realised that he got a bit carried away. Rowan gave him a soft smile.

"I'm glad you think of me so highly, Mister Vindex. It would be nice to see you again at some point." Rowan replied as he left through the sliding doors. Ace heard a voice calling from way upstairs.

"If you're done chatting, you can come in now, Ace!" Sycamore shouted to him. Ace laughed. Same old Sycamore. Ace walked into the elevator and hit the 3 key. Ace wasn't wholly used to elevators, and the sudden lurching upwards still unsettled him a bit.

He arrived at the third floor as he walked and looked around a bit. He could see shelves packed with books about every matter you would need to know about Pokémon. There were desks with computers, test tubes and the standard experimental equipment. Ace didn't even know how test tubes would be incorporated into their research, and he smirked as he realised that Sycamore probably just set them up to look more professional.

"How are you Ace! My, how much you've grown! It has been so long since I've last seen you! Please, take a seat!" Sycamore stood in front of his desk, with a welcoming smile on his face. Ace chuckled.

"Maybe you should get yourself a seat before I sit down!" Ace suggested. Sycamore laughed.

"Ah, I see you've inherited your mothers wit. Hopefully for yourself you've inherited your fathers cooking skills!" Sycamore shared a bit of an in-joke with Ace.

"How have they been doing, by the way?" Ace asked as they both took a seat. He marvelled at the wonderful comfortableness of the padded seat.

Sycamore nodded. "Yes, they've been doing quite well. They were thrilled to hear that their son is in Kalos. Unfortunately, they are very busy at their posts. You can understand that though, right? They spent many years searching for you and… what was his name again… S?" Sycamore saw the disbelieving look on Ace's faced. He let out a laugh. "Yes, of course I remember N! But seriously, they were worried sick. Probably even more when they knew where you were but couldn't help you." Sycamore hit a serious note.

Tears started to form at the back of Ace's eyes and he swallowed. "Yes, and I can't wait to see them!" Ace smiled as he thought about how happy his parents would be. Sycamore's eye gave a bit of a twinkle.

"Ah, you might see them a bit sooner than you think!" Sycamore raised an eyebrow. **(AN: Yes, I know I was going reveal them later but YOLOSWAJIT! Maybe I'll save the father for later…yeah…)** Ace's heart skipped a couple of beats.

"Really?" Ace asked in anticipation. Sycamore hushed him.

"But before we get even more side-tracked, let's check out your starter. I was actually given a very particular Pokémon to hand on to you." Sycamore picked up a Poke Ball and handed it to Ace. Ace took the Poké Ball and pressed the middle button to release the Pokémon he would spend the rest of his life with. In a flash of light, his partner was revealed. He grinned, as he knew who would have passed this on. He didn't think they would go this far though…

"Ralts. Adamant nature. Blah blah blah technical shiz something something THERE!" Sycamore read of a list of Ralts's stats that he then handed to Ace. Ace then read the stats as his eyes widened. This Pokémon had been perfectly bred for physical sweeping! Ace looked at wonder to Sycamore. All Sycamore did was cast him a knowing smile. Ace put the list away as he crouched down and talked to his new partner. Ralts jumped and smiled at Ace.

"Hey there little buddy! My name's Ace, and I'm your trainer now! I hope you'll like me, and I'll do my very best (Like no one ever was?) to take good care of you and be a good friend." Ace smiled back at Ralts as he murmured this oath.

From that day, a strong bond between Pokémon and Trainer was created, and something great was destined for them.

In the deep fathoms of space, a conscience awoke. He has found the next step. But there was another. Another conscience that sought to destroy the other. But that shall come later. Much, much later…


	7. Chapter 7: Setting Off

Ace – The Pokémon Warrior

**Two down now! In case you haven't seen a pattern, all these chapters are going to be at least 1k words. I MUST DO THIS FOR MY PEOPLE. **

**Also, I suggest you check out my latest thing. Very informative.**

**Okay but seriously, I'm sure the two people who are reading this are wondering "When will Ace's powers come in?" When he's fighting bad people or travelling. Don't worry, I've got this. And in the trainer battles, there will be the same amount of dodging that there is in normal games. Not really that much, or else the battles go on forever.**

**Chapter 7 – Setting Off**

Just as Ace was leaving the Sycamore Lab after a nice coffee and several cookies and a gift of 5 Poké Balls, Sycamore called out to him.

"Ace! Remember to be careful! And most importantly, always try to wear a smile!" Sycamore told Ace his words of wisdom. Ace froze. There was only one other person who said that… Ace shook his head. There was no way. Lamont was several years older than Augustine. Ace waved back at Sycamore as he set off into the vast region of Kalos. He will encounter fierce enemies and glorious friends, he will experience destroying lows and angelic highs, and he will choose between light and dark and finally, he will-

"Let's battle!" a shorts-clad Youngster challenged Ace to a battle. Ace unwittingly made eye contact with the young trainer and, as everyone is aware, that means that you must battle. Ace nodded.

"Very well. Go, Ralts!" Ace called out his only Pokémon. His Psychic-Fairy Pokémon burst out. Ace noticed that Ralts did not have the Trace ability, or else he would have been notified.

"Okay, let's go Fletchling!" the Youngster threw out his Pokémon, a Normal-Flying Pokémon. Ace went to order an attack, but realised that he didn't even know his Pokémons moveset. He had a momentary heart attack as he remembered that Ralts only knew Growl on Level 5. Luckily, this Ralts already has Confusion, Double Team and SWORDS DANCE?! Ace was alarmed. Someone really took time to breed this Pokémon.

"Alright, use Confusion, Ralts!" Ace commanded the first move he ever would make. Ralts started to glow with a blue light as he shot out a wave of psychic power **(AN: Ralts is obviously a male because if it's bred for physical…well you can figure the rest out)**. Fletchling took some reasonably damage, but recovered from the shock and awaited its Trainers orders.

"Use Tackle, Fletchling!" Ace's foe ordered. Fletchling flapped in the air and rammed into Ralts. Ace flinched as Ralts took some damage. But Ace knew Ralts could get through this.

"Keep using Confusion until we win!" Ace knew there was only so much you could do with one attacking move. Whoever thought Pokémon was a turn-based strategy game was clearly on all sorts of Foongus.

"Keep Tackling, Fletchling!" the Youngster commanded. But before Fletchling could attack, the Confusion hit Fletchling. Fletchling then started spinning around and fell to the ground. Ace clenched his fist.

"Great, Fletchling was confused! Finish it off with one last Confusion!" Ace commanded. And that was all it needed. Fletchling was knocked out and Ace had won his first battle. The Youngster handed over some money.

"You battled really well! Keep trying." Ace told the young boy. He took it all in and rushed to a Pokémon Centre. Ace smiled. It was tough trying to be serious all the time but sometimes he couldn't help it…

Ace shook himself out of his misery. It was okay to be serious, but not depressed. Ace recalled Ralts and kept walking. He checked his map to make sure he was walking in the right direction. Ace needed to get to Santalune City to be able to challenge the first Kalos Gym, the Bug Gym. The pleasant wind of early spring ruffled his hair. He was looking at life a lot more positively than before. Somehow, Ralts let himself out of his Poké Ball and launched onto Ace's head.

"Ralts ralts!" He chirped as he sat on Ace's head. Ace smiled.

"Glad to see you too, buddy" Ace replied to the little Pokémon. Suddenly, Ace tripped and fell. He would have landed face-first down in the ground, if Ralts had not reacted quickly and used his psychic powers to stop Ace before he hit the ground.

"Hey, stop beating me at my own job!" Ace laughed as he righted himself. He crouched down to see what he tripped over. It seemed to be some sort of stone, glowing with many colours. Ace thought it was quite beautiful, so he picked it up and slid it into his pocket. He was disappointed that he didn't feel any sort of rush of energy to indicate that it was a Mega Stone. Ace stood back up and kept walking.

**SOME TIME LATER**

Ace saw that the sun was coming down, so he started to set up camp. He was impressed at the way that Poké Balls could contain more than just Pokémon, as he got his tent and cooking equipment of his bag **(AN: And that is how trainers can fit fishing rods, bikes, a million balls and healing equipment and more in their bags)**. Ace felt the wind gradually grow cooler, then cold enough for Ace to light a fire. He was pleased that he started his adventure in Spring, as the pesky leaves that seemed to be everywhere during Autumn and Winter were nowhere to be seen.

Ace got some cooking ingredients, such as some chicken kebabs and vegetables, out of his bag **(AN: PLEASE TELL ME WHERE IN EVER DOES IT SAY THE POKÉMON WORLD DOES NOT ALSO HAVE NORMAL ANIMALS HEY)**. He prepared the meal for him, as well as some Pokémon Food for Ralts.

They both feasted on their meals. When they were finished, Ace washed his cutlery. _Perks of being half-Water I guess_ Ace thought as he smiled. He set them out to dry for the morning as he and Ralts both went to sleep in the tent. Ace marvelled at how far he had come since he left Team Plasma. Colress was working for a company in a far off land called Almia and N was helping the reformed Team Plasma in Unova. Ace slowly drifted off to sleep, but would not have a undisrupted night…


	8. Chapter 8: Santalune City

Ace – The Pokémon Warrior

**What's this? A chapter from EoT? What is this madness?**

**Yes, because it's my big holiday time, I'll be writing/typing a lot more. Also, I've got a bit of a basic timeline for Ace so let's see how it goes!**

**I was reading back on the previous chapters and I'm actually really happy with how this is going :D**

**Chapter 8 – Santalune City**

THUD!

Ace's eyes shot open. He had heard a loud noise, like something being dropped. He looked around his campsite. The campfire had died down to a few spluttering coals, and all of his things were undisturbed. In that case, what, or who, made the noises?

"Do you think anyone heard that?" a voice out of the darkness asked. So there was other people here, Ace thought.

"I'm pretty sure there's no one around here apart from a few rookie trainers, and they know not to mess with Team Galactic!" another voice replied. Ace's heart skipped a beat. Team Galactic? What were they doing here?

"Well, we better get a move on. We'll want to take this baby down to the Santalune Pokémon Center. Let's hope Boss was right about this" the first voice said.

Ace heard groans of strain as the two grunts lifted the object that had made the thump earlier, presumably something heavy. Ace wondered if he should go after them as he kept listening to the grunts continue along the path to Santalune City. Ace knew that someone would need to warn Santalune City about the incoming threat, but did it need to be him? He really didn't want to get caught up with other teams. He had had enough already with secret conspiracies and illegal dealings, which made him realize that there was only one thing to do.

Ace slipped out of the tent he had been sleeping in, as quietly as possible in case there was other grunts still around. He tried not to disturb his campsite, and he left Ralts's PokéBall in the tent. He knew that if he had a confrontation that Ralts wouldn't be particularly useful. Plus, he could rely on himself.

Leaving the campsite, Ace dashed through the trees, parkouring on branches and bushes, trying to get ahead of the two grunts.

He eventually reached the city of Santalune, home of the Bug-type Gym Leader Viola. He cast a quick look around and immediately located the Pokémon Center, with its glowing red roof. He ran towards it, getting curious glances from passersby. He rushed into the center and stopped in the middle.

"Excuse me everyone, may I have your attention!" Ace called. People started to turn towards him, until the whole center was looking at Ace.

"There are two Team Galactic members heading to this Pokémon Center right now. They are bringing some sort of object with them. I do not know what this object is, or what it will do, but I suggest that you take immediate preparations to clear this Center." Ace explained to his audience.

A teenaged trainer lounging on a couch yelled back to Ace. "How do we know that you're telling the truth?" he sneered.

Suddenly, the front doors of the Center were blasted off their hinges and smoke filled the room.

"That's how" Ace replied coolly, as the minions carried a large object draped in a black sheet in through the space where the doors were and dropped it. Ace shook his head. "Why do villains ALWAYS have to blow up something to get in…" he said, disbelieving.

"Listen up everyone! You're going to let us get all of the energy in this place from your Pokémon, so I suggest you hand them over!" the grunt on the left said.

"Yeah! And if you don't hand them over, we'll have to use force!" the grunt on the right continued as they unveiled the machine under the tarp. The machine looked like something out of a science fantasy movie. It was a wide, clear, tube like cylinder with wires running from it to a blue box on the bottom of it. Ace knew exactly what it would do. He had seen things like this in the labs he had been trapped in.

"No one send out your Pokémon" Ace calmly ordered. He could take this on alone. The grunts' eyes locked onto him, and they lit up.

"Ah! This is our lucky day! Fate truly piles the gifts at our feet today!" the first grunt gleefully rubbed his hands together.

"Do you really think that this puny machine would be able to harness this power?" Ace growled, spreading his arms wide. He reverted back to the person he had been around the other teams. Cold, distant and filled with fury. He raised his right hand and fired a giant Psywave at the machine. The machine exploded, blasting the two grunts back. As ash and smoke filled the center, Ace stalked up to them, the grunts shivering in fear.

"If I ever see you or the likes of you in this region again, I swear to Mew I will wipe you off the face of this earth." Ace said to them right in their faces, terrifyingly softly. The grunts, on the verge of tears, nodded hastily and hightailed it out of there. Ace stood upright and faced the crowd.

"Next time, try being a little bit less cynical, okay?" Ace told the audience. They were still in awe of the power they had just witnessed. Hey, if I've got this power, I may as well use it for good, Ace thought with a smirk and he walked out of the center and back to his campsite, to pack it all up and venture on, to the Bug Gym and hopefully obtain his first badge.

The following day, Ace set off again, this time taking the more orthodox approach, the road. The sun was shining behind him, and Ace felt truly happy. He felt like he had done good using his powers. Ralts by his side helped. Being with Pokémon really helped with his schizophrenia. To be honest, it helped with most things.

As Ace approached the city, he flipped the hood of his clothes up. He knew that people would want to see him after his "heroics" last night. All he wanted to do was challenge the gym here. He had no intent of talking to strangers. He felt a tap on his shoulder. "Well, there goes that…" Ace murmured to himself as he turned around. To his great surprise, it was no stranger. In fact, it was Professor Rowan himself.

"I'm sorry to bother you, Mister Vindex, but I couldn't help but say hello to you" Rowan explained. Ace smiled.

"You're one of the few people I enjoy talking to, Professor. I'm honoured that you remembered me." Ace replied. All of that statement was true. Professor Rowan was one of his idols, and someone who he acted normally around.

As demonstrated earlier, Ace didn't take kindly to villains, so he became cold and unforgiving. Ace, probably due to his modifications, could tell how good a person was, just at a glance. People who were worthy, he would act open and friendly towards, like Rowan and Sycamore, even Tyson and Laura, the two Team Flare grunts before.

"Well, it's a bit hard not to remember someone like yourself, Ace. I heard about your antics at the Center last night. I'm very impressed." Rowan complimented Ace. This was no small feat, to be complemented by Rowan. "Would you like to know what Sycamore and I were talking about before you, Ace?" Rowan asked. Ace nodded. Of course he did! Rowan beckoned Ace to a café nearby. Kalos had many cafes, Ace thought as they sat down. Rowan ordered a short black coffee, and Ace simply asked for a jug of water.

Rowan opened his briefcase. Inside, there were many sheets about the origins of Pokémon, Rowan's main study. Rowan chose a couple of sheets and laid them on the table for Ace to see. They detailed the roles Dialga and Palkia had in the creation of the world.

"As you know, I am greatly interested in the origins of Pokémon. I have recently been at a conference with several other professors around the world. We discussed what makes Pokémon, and this world, so special. The Hoenn region has recently been investigating the multiple dimensions theory, and how space and time can be manipulated." Rowan explained. Ace felt the blood drain from his face. No… surely they didn't know…

Rowan didn't seem to notice Ace's temporary lapse, and continued with his explanation. "We concluded that this world had a particular influx of energy. This energy enables things like Pokémon and Mega Evolution to exist. But what Hoenn discovered that it is quite possible that there are varying versions of this world. Some where Mega Evolution does not exist. Some where time and space is different, and different events have occurred. Some even do not have Pokémon. And this is just the beginning. Imagine if we could find other dimensions where the world is completely different!" Rowan raved on.

Ace faked a laugh. "That certainly sounds interesting, Professor. So what do I have to do with this?" he asked. He felt like he was digging himself a deeper hole, but he needed to know.

"Well, I'm glad you asked that, Ace!" Rowan started a new explanation, but their refreshments arrived. They thanked the waiter and Ace poured himself a glass of water. Rowan remembered where he left off.

"Ace, you seem to have the same sort of energy that matches the particular frequency of the influx in this dimension. We've concluded that you would quite probably be able to travel to these other dimensions." Rowan explained. This was it. This was when Ace got found out. Ace glanced around quickly, but thankfully, Rowan's cell phone saved him. Rowan answered the call, and his eyes widened.

When the call finished. Rowan packed his things back up. "Sorry about that Ace, bit of a shot in the dark… anyway, something's come up. Hoenn has recorded a huge influx of energy. I'll have to be off now. It was nice talking to you, Ace. I hope we meet up again." Rowan said as he hurried away.

Ace breathed a heavy sigh of relief. "Well, thank god THAT is over…" he muttered to himself.

The consciousness was pleased. His friend had been saved, at least for now. But he would need help…


	9. Chapter 9: Big Badass Bug Boss Battle

Ace – The Pokémon Warrior

**MERRY CHRISTMAS!**

**What's this? ****_Another _****chapter from EoT? What is this madness?**

**Yes, very exciting, I know. But I've been rejuvenated and energized to do more of this story because it's awesome and I love it.**

**A little thing: Ace, technically being a Pokémon, has a moveset and can still learn moves by levelling up, but that is the only thing that changes. Also, he can have far more than four moves. His current moveset is:**

**Water Shuriken, Psycho Cut, Aqua Jet, Psycho Shift and Pursuit**

**Also, Pokémon getting hurt by moves is different than getting hurt by things like weapons and stuff. Just… go with it.**

**Let's get into it!**

**Chapter 9: Big Badass Bug Boss Battle **

"Hey champ-in-the-making!" Clive greeted Ace as he walked through the door. Ace stopped, knowing that any information about his competition would be greatly needed. Clive acknowledged that Ace was paying attention.

"This gym is all about the Bug type! The Leader here uses Bug types, and the gym itself is a big spider web! You'll have to navigate around the gym to be able to challenge the Gym Leader!" Clive explained. Ace could only see an elevator going down, so he assumed that that was where he needed to go.

"What Pokémon will you be using?" Clive asked. It was in good sportsmanship that the Gym Leader was allowed to know what Pokémon the opponent was using and change their teams accordingly.

"I'm using my Level 10 Ralts and myself, if that's okay" Ace explained, showing his Pokémon Trainer license. Clive's eyes opened wide.

"Oh, you're Ace!" he exclaimed as he looked at the license. On the license, it said that Ace was allowed to enter himself in any battle as a Pokémon, as well as a trainer. Ace grinned sheepishly at Clive.

"Yeah, I haven't really had a chance to catch many other Pokémon…" Ace replied. In truth, Ace didn't actually have any money to buy Poké Balls with, and he didn't like asking people for favours. Plus, Ralts would be all he needed to win, even if he had the type disadvantage. Clive recognised the signature proving the legitimacy of the license and stepped aside, giving Ace access to the elevator. Ace bowed his head, stepped on the elevator and descended downwards, towards his first Gym.

As he arrived on the platform, Ace's breath was taken away. It was like he was in a whole new world. A giant spider web made of thick, metal beams painted white sprawled along the whole surface of the gym. Ahead of him, the Gym Leader, Viola, was sitting down, waiting for Ace to make his way to her. But there was not a direct route, and he would have to journey across the vast web and face three other Gym Trainers, all users of the Bug type. Ace had always wondered why trainers chose the Bug type to train. It was probably how widely found they were, and how quickly they evolved **(AN: Apart from Larvesta)**.

Ace took his first, tentative steps upon the web. Surprisingly, it was quite firm and thankfully not sticky. He started to follow the strand that he was located on, and soon found himself at a Trainer. He looked ahead, and saw that there was a fork ahead of him. Inhaling deeply, he took a step forward and initiated his first Gym battle.

"Hey! Welcome to the Santalune Gym. Unfortunately for you, I'm your first opponent!" Youngster David called as a small podium spun out underneath them. "Alright, go, Ledyba!" David said as he sent out his Bug/Flying Pokémon.

"Alright then! Ralts, front and centre!" Ace called as he tossed out his starter. The Psychic-Fairy Pokémon faced his competition. "Ralts, use Confusion!" Ace ordered. Ralts glowed with a blue light, and sent out a ball of psychic power. Ledyba recoiled in pain, but righted itself.

"Okay Ledyba, use Tackle!" David cried. Ledyba rammed its whole body into Ace's Pokémon, but Ralts did not take much damage. Ace breathed a sigh of relief, as he realized that most Trainers in here would not actually have many Bug-Type moves.

"Confusion again, Ralts, and make it count!" Ace commanded. Ralts used Confusion again, but this time Ledyba started spinning around in confusion. "Good job, Ralts." Ace said to his partner.

"Snap out of it Ledyba, use Tackle!" David called. However, Ledyba, being confused, rammed itself not into Ralts, but into the platform, knocking itself out. David returned his Pokémon. "Good job on your first Gym battle!" he congratulated Ace. Ace nodded.

"Thank you. You did well too" Ace smiled. David pulled some Poké Dollars out of his pocket.

"There you go. Don't worry, the Gym pays for it" David handed the $240 to Ace. Ace took it gratefully, and approached the fork in the "road". He looked left, and saw a dead end, so he continued to his right. He continued past multiple crossroads, but eventually came to one that led to an optional battle. Ace pondered his decision. If he continued, he could save his strength for the next Trainer and the Gym Leader… yes, that was the right choice, he decided, as he continued past Youngster Zachary and ahead to Lass Charlotte. Before Ace initiated the battle, he checked Ralts's stats. It turned out that Ralts had levelled up in the last battle, and had learned Disarming Voice. That would surely be useful in his further battles, with another STAB move.

"I'm the last Trainer before the Gym Leader, but I'm the strongest, so watch out!" Charlotte challenged Ace as the podium spun out. Ace wondered where they kept coming from, until he realized they were attached to the floor.

"Kakuna, let's do this!" Charlotte cried as she sent out her first Pokémon. Ace raised his eyebrow. This battle shouldn't be very hard.

"Alright, Ralts, front and centre!" Ace called as his Pokémon entered the battle. "Let's get this done over with quickly with Confusion, Ralts!" he ordered. It was only one super-effective Confusion that was needed to fell the mighty Kakuna. Charlotte recalled Kakuna and sent out her second Pokémon, a Combee. Ace groaned. He hated Combee.

"Combee, use Gust!" Charlotte cried. Combee swept up a small gale at Ralts, doing a substantial amount of damage. However, Ace knew that Ralts would be able to take more.

"Ralts, Disarming Voice!" Ace decided to try out Ralts's new move. Ralts opened his mouth and a blast of noise burst out of it, sending Combee reeling into the ground, unconscious. Ace called Ralts back, and Charlotte returned her KOed Pokémon back into its ball.

Charlotte handed over Ace's $216 of winnings and let him pass. "Good luck against the Gym Leader. You'll need it." she told Ace. Without looking back, Ace stepped onto the podium where Viola was located.

"Viola! My name is Ace Vindex, and I'm here to challenge and defeat you!" Ace called confidently. Viola turned around, and smiled when she saw who was there.

"Ah, Ace! Good to see you. You've come to challenge me? Fantastic! Let's see how your Pokémon face up against mine!" she replied. An official Pokémon battle umpire came out from the curtain leading back to the entrance.

"This Gym Battle is against Gym Leader of Santalune City and Ace Vindex from Nacrene City! Let the battle begin!" The umpire called, and chopped the air with his right hand, signifying the start of the battle.

"Surskit, let's do this!" Viola called her first Pokémon, a Water/Bug type Pokémon, onto the battlefield.

"Alright, Ralts, front and centre!" Ace cried as Ralts took the stage, ready to defeat his opponent.

"Surskit, start it off with a Quick Attack!" Viola exclaimed, starting the battle quickly with a quick move. The attack, while not doing as much damage as Tackle, always went first. Surskit ran into Ralts, sending it back a metre or so.

"Ralts, you use your Confusion!" Ace commanded. Ralts's Confusion was far more powerful than Surskit's Quick Attack, and Ralts dealt a good amount of damage.

"Use Bubble, Surskit!" Viola cried. Ace was alarmed. A STAB move from Surskit could be bad. The bubbles popped on Ralts, and sent Ralts recoiling.

"Gah! Come on Ralts, you can do this! Use a Confusion to finish it off!" Ace cried. Ralts recovered from the Bubble attack and sent its own attack at Surskit, making it KOed. The two trainers both recalled their Pokémon. Viola looked confused.

"Ace, isn't Ralts your only Pokémon?" Viola asked. Ace grinned in response.

"You're forgetting something important, Viola" Ace replied as he stepped onto the battlefield and readied himself. Viola smiled.

"Fantastic! Vivillion, show Ace what we can really do!" Viola sent out her second and final Pokémon. The Level 12 Bug/Flying Pokémon was the strongest in this Gym, but it was not the strongest he had faced. Ace summoned Water Shurikens in his hands, and sent five of them flying towards Vivillion. Vivillion was successfully hit by all of them, and was sent flying back.

"Vivillion, send him a Sleep Powder!" Viola exclaimed. That wasn't good. Ace couldn't afford to fall asleep, but as the sleep-inducing dust floated towards him, he couldn't help but rest his eyes a bit, and just…sleep…

"Finish him off with a Struggle Bug, Vivillion!" Ace heard Viola cry. His eyes shot open, back into the world of the awake. His whole body hurt, and knew that one last, STAB, super-effective move could finish him off. He darted out of the way with an Aqua Jet, then rammed into Vivillion. He slammed the Pokémon into the ground and held it there until it was unconscious.

He stood up as Viola returned her Pokémon to its Poké Ball. "That was a fantastic battle, Ace! I'm proud to award you with your first fantastic Gym Badge, the Bug Badge!" Viola handed the first badge to Ace. Ace held it in the light, the beams reflecting the colours of it everywhere. He placed it in his Badge Case and bowed his head to Viola.

"Thank you so much for letting me have this chance. Now I really have a chance at this whole trainer thing" Ace shook Viola's hand.

"Hey, it's my job! Oh also, here you go" Viola handed the TM for Infestation and $1920. "Those are some little bonuses for beating me. Hopefully you'll remember this battle every time you look at that TM" Viola explained to Ace as the curtains that returned him to the entrance opened. He thanked Viola again and walked up the stairs, out the doors and back into the daylight.

He breathed a sigh of relief. He had done it, he had won his first ever Gym Battle. He gave a cry of victory, letting everyone know he had beaten a Gym. A bit unusual for him, sure, but he was excited.

He brushed his hands together, proud of himself. However, he did recognize that it probably wasn't a great idea to use himself as a Pokémon. He hated being a monster, so using the powers that Team Plasma gave him for mere battling seemed a bit off. It was a good test of his powers, but he didn't want to think about what would happen in the worst case scenario.

Plus, those powers were for beating up bad guys, Ace thought and chuckled to himself. If the Teams didn't want him to use his powers against him, then they shouldn't have created him in the first place.

Deep in thought, he almost tripped over a Poké Ball on the ground. Looking around to see if anyone had lost it, he picked it up and opened it. Out of it burst a Beldum, but not like a normal one. This one, instead of having a blue body with silver highlights, it was a marble-white colour with gold highlights. Ace recognized this as a Shiny Beldum. They were once pretty rare, but there seemed to be a few more of them around recently.

As he inspected the placid Pokémon more, he noticed a note attached to it. It read:

_To Ace._

_ I hope you appreciate this gift. You're already becoming a very strong trainer, even just by that _

_ one gym badge. This Pokémon was given to me by a close friend, and I feel like I should pass it_

_ on to you. You have an incredibly important job to do, and I pray that you make the right decisions._

_ Remember, the wellbeing of many is more important than the wellbeing of few, or one._

_ Also, I've enlisted a friend to help you. Just whistle and she'll come. She's a little… overbearing, but_

_ I can vouch that she's very helpful._

_ Until next time_

_ -Resolution_

Ace finished reading the letter, confused. Who was this "Resolution" character? Why were they so mysterious? Why did they care so much about him and his journey? Why was this Beldum so important? And what did "wellbeing of many is more important than the wellbeing of few, or one" mean?

Ace thought for a while. On one hand, this could be a complete trap, set up by any of the Teams that seek him and his powers. However, Ace could also tell that this was an incredibly powerful Pokémon, with overflowing potential.

He remembered the part of the letter about "a friend". He was meant to… whistle? Ace shrugged, and let out a long tune, called the Storm's Song, one that was passed down through his family for generations.

Suddenly, a head poked out from thin air, coming from a mystical portal. The head had features on it, as heads generally do, with wide green eyes, and long purple hair with green streaks, with a clearly feminine style.

"You called?" the floating head asked. Ace frantically looked around to see if anyone else cared and/or even saw her, but received no reaction. Alright then, Ace thought, this definitely isn't a trap.

"Uh… Hi. I'm Ace. Apparently someone named Resolution wants you to help me" Ace replied, slightly off-put. Even in a world of strange creatures and phenomenon everywhere, it's not every day you have a conversation with a floating head.

The girl raised her eyebrows with the name. "Oh! Hi Ace! I've heard a lot about you from Res! My name's Lizbeth," Lizbeth introduced herself, "and I'm you magical source of information about the Kalos region! I know that you're not in a position to research things or else the Teams will track and find you, so I'm your walking database!"

Ace nodded, totally ignoring the small voice in his head saying "This is completely ridiculous". "So… do you have… a body?" Ace asked, still curious about this being.

Lizbeth laughed. "Oh, whoops! Of course, sorry!" she apologised as the rest of her body came out of the portal. Before Ace could have a good look into it, it disappeared, but it seemed to contain stars and a strange platform.

Lizbeth was about 5 foot, though it was a bit hard to tell while she was levitating, with a long purple and white robe that looked like something an angel would wear. Her hair continued down past her waist and seemed to end with some strange orb.

"My job here, apart from helping you and giving you advice, is also to record your adventure and report back to Resolution about this world and how you're doing. We don't want you getting into a pickle and failing now, do we?" Lizbeth explained.

"Alright. Well, hey, why not," Ace mumbled to himself, "First getting genetically engineered, then being chosen by some omnipresent being, and now having a girl follow me and also do reconnaissance on me and this world. Fantastic. Sure. I never really had a chance of being a normal kid, did I?"

"Well, I'm sure you know what exactly you want or need to do, so I'll leave you for the time being. You can call on me with that cool whistle of yours. See ya!" Lizbeth said as she disappeared back into her portal.

Ace sighed. That was an ordeal and a half. He looked down to his new Gym Badge clasped in his hands. Somehow, it didn't feel as important now.

He quickly shook off his negativity. No matter how many gods came to him asking for help or people telling him he's the hero of the universe or something, Ace was sure he was going to complete his quest, magical sidekick or not.

Ace slipped his badge into his Badge Case, part of his Official League kit. He sighed again, collected his thoughts, and began to plan.

"_How is he handling it?"_

"_Which part?"_

"_All of it"_

"…"

"_Alright, I guess. He's a pretty down to earth guy, but I don't trust him that much. I feel like he won't listen to me"_

"_Lizbeth, how long have I known you?"_

"_We both know neither of us can answer that question"_

"_Exactly. And you have never failed me"_

"_But the stakes are so much higher. He was always the trump card. The other two have been so easy so far"_

"_That's because they have such a handle on fate. This one doesn't want that. As a matter of fact, intervening may have even furthered that…_

"_You knew that when we began, didn't you?"_

"_Of course"_

"…"

"_Do you think he thinks we're on his side?"_

"_I certainly hope so. For all of our sakes. He is the one who could change the tides. We must be very careful. And most importantly…"_

"_Yeah, yeah. We can't directly intervene with the flow of fate. I know"_

"_I know you know. But no matter what"_

"_Do you think it'll come to that? No matter what?"_

"_I doubt it. Ace is strong, and steadfast in his beliefs. All we can hope is that he changes his priorities"_

"_So no big deal, right?"_

"_Hah, no. It'll be fine. Get some rest"_

"_Resolution, you and I both know that we don't need sleep"_

"… _work with me here, Lizbeth"_

"_Ugh, fine. I'll go "relax" or whatever"_

"_Good. I'll talk to you later"_

"_Of course. See ya"_

**A Word from EoT: Part 2**

**So, I'm sure you're all wondering about Lizbeth.**

**Basically, when we're playing Pokémon, we can choose to look up things on the go.**

**Lizbeth is basically a physical representation of that. **

**And are they good or bad guys?**

**Well… you'll have to figure that out by yourself.**

**See ya all later.**


	10. Chapter 10: At Dawn, We Ride!

Ace – The Pokémon Warrior

**Well, it's been about 3 months since the last update and gosh I'm sorry to all my like four readers…**

**Observant reader would see that last chapter, I said that Ace didn't have much money to buy Poké Balls, but in Chapter 6, he had a small trove of hidden gems. The explanation to this is simply that he didn't have access to the stash!**

**Anyway! I really hope you enjoy this! To be honest, I'll probably get to around the end of this, stop it and focus on Enzo and Albius then finish this! If I ever get to that point…**

**But apart from that, stay safe, stay happy and more importantly, stay radical! See ya later**

**-TheExplorerOfTime**

**Chapter 10: At Dawn, We Ride!**

Ace pulled out his map of the Kalos region as he laid back on the red couch in his rented room. There was a howling wind outside, and as much as Ace wanted to progress, he knew that anything he set up would be instantly blown away. He glanced over at his new Beldum, getting acquainted with Ralts. Ralts, although less intimidating than Beldum, was showing that it was the boss around here.

Ace chuckled. "Okay, so… it looks like the next place to go would be… oh, back through Lumiose City, then to Camphrier Town." He muttered. Ace gave the whistle to summon his recently acquired helper. Suddenly, Lizbeth appeared from thin air.

"You wanted me, Ace?" she asked. Ace nodded.

"Yep. What do you know about Camphrier Town?" Ace asked. Even though he could simply look it up, he thought it would be a better idea to get his mystical friend to help him. After all, Ace suspected she knew much more than what was on the internet.

"Sure thing! Uh... could you maybe close that window first? It's a bit chilly in here" Lizbeth asked politely as she could. Ace turned around, to see that he had unknowingly left the window behind him open. Not noticing the cold, he turned to his Pokémon, who were bashing the heater, trying to turn it on. He hastily closed the window and turned the heater on, warming up his freezing Pokémon.

"Much better, thanks! Anyway, Camphrier Town… well, it has a really old mansion that they say might have something to do with Mega Evolution, so you might want to go check that place out… there's a place called "Parfum Palace" nearby, so that might be interesting… Oh! And the Battle Maison is nearby as well. Seems like a fairly interesting place!" Lizbeth chirped. Ace was slightly disappointed to hear that there was no Gym there, but his sadness was soon lifted when he thought about Mega Evolution.

"Well, that's definitely where we're going next!" Ace said with a yawn. He didn't realise how tired he had been. He looked around to make sure that all the windows were firmly shut, and then recalled his Pokémon. "Thanks for that, Lizbeth" Ace said as he nodded to his partner, who, knowing her work was done for the time being, disappeared the same way she appeared.

Ace got up from the couch and turned the heater off. Unaffected by the sudden drop in temperature, he prepared his bed for his rest. Giving the room a quick one-over, he nodded, satisfied, and went to sleep.

The next day, Ace, dressed in his usual garb, walked out of his rented room. He thanked the local Nurse Joy and exited the red-roofed building. He checked his inventory, to make sure that he had enough supplies to last until he got to Camphrier Town. A lightbulb went off in his head as he walked back in and bought some Great Balls. "Never know when you'll need them…" Ace murmured.

As he walked to Route 4, Lizbeth said in his head "Watch out, Ace. There's a land block ahead and I'm pretty sure it's natural. However, caution is advised"

Ace nodded. He knew that there could still be Team Galactic grunts around, but he suspected that they took his threat to heart. He continued through the tall grass of Route 4, eager to reach Camphrier before nightfall.

He soon came across the obstruction that Lizbeth mentioned. It was a bunch of very large boulders. Ace looked up, to see where they would have fallen. This section of the road was carved in between two hills, and because of erosion, the boulders quite easily could have fallen, especially because of the fierce storm last night.

Ace examined the boulders more closely. He deemed them unsuspicious, but he knew that he would need to do something about this. He couldn't really be bothered alerting some sort of authority, so he decided to take matters into his own hands.

Ace quickly looked around for any witnesses, then he began. "Alright, let's try a Water Shuriken!" Ace cried, as several spinning shurikens of water burst out of his hands and collided with the boulders, destroying them instantly.

"Hm, that was easy…" he grunted. "I suppose they weren't particularly tough" Ace shook his head. He was simply glad that he had cleared this obstacle.

"I better speed up a bit" Ace said as he looked up into the sky. The sun was just past halfway in the sky, which meant it would be about one o'clock. "I may as well stop for some lunch in Lumiose City" he muttered, as he remembered the plentiful cafes and restaurants in the glowing city.

Picking up the pace, Ace jogged to Lumiose City. As he entered the gate, he noticed that the shining beacon of Lumiose City, the Prism Tower, was not so shiny. A construction worker walked up to him as he tried to investigate.

"There's a power outage on the north side. Sorry, but while we try to fix it, you won't be able to get through" the worker apologised. Ace shook his head.

"Don't worry, I wasn't planning to go there anyway" He replied. Suspicious, Ace thought. Ace shrugged. Oh well, he was here for a quick snack, not a tour.

He located an appealing café called Café Introversion and sat down. In a few seconds a waiter appeared and took his order of a caramel slice and a glass of water. As he waited for his meal, he looked around his surroundings. Even though half the town was shut down, it was a bustling hubbub of energy and business. Ace was slightly put off at all the activity around him. He could see some branches and a few chairs that had fallen down and were yet to be righted thanks to last night's storm.

A nearby conversation piqued his interest. He slightly craned his neck to see the table behind him. Seated there were two figures, a male and a female. He could tell their accents were Kantoan, not Kalosian like others here.

"When do we strike?" The man asked. Ace was intrigued. This sounded strange, he thought, as he continued listening.

"About 5pm. Do you have all the things set up?" the woman cryptically replied. What "things"? Ace wondered.

"Of course I do. This is a risky operation, trying to steal energy. I heard that the other teams are trying to do it as well" the man confirmed Ace's suspicions. These people WERE Team Rocket grunts. Ace struggled to contain his emotions. From the sound of things, they would try to suck energy from somewhere, but where…?

"The Sycamore Pokémon Laboratory is barely guarded at that time. We've got this." The woman replied. All the blood drained form Ace's face. Sycamore, as well as all the Pokémon there, were in terrible danger.

Ace was still as pale as a Froslass as his refreshments arrived. He nodded towards the waiter without taking his eyes off the couple near him. He skulled the whole glass of water, placing it back down with a thump. Stuffing the slice in his pocket, he quickly paid at the counter.

The woman at the counter was interested by the male's rushed demeanour, as well as his outfit, but decided not to say anything. She was simply an employee, not meant to ask questions. However, she was much more surprised when she realised she had been paid in a currency not seen in Kalos for hundreds of years.

Ace tried to assess the situation. An outright confrontation with the grunts would only end badly for everyone involved… He glanced at a wall clock nearby. It was 4:35pm. There was still enough time for him to warn the professor.

Ace ran to the lab, a blur amongst a busy street, and screeched to a halt in front of the Pokémon Lab. He ran in, the doors opening with a bang. Ace saw Sycamore talking to a red-haired gentleman in the foyer.

Sycamore's eyes widened when he saw Ace in such a panic. The ginger Wolverine that Sycamore had been talking to turned around at the same time, and Ace was alarmed to see that it was the leader of Team Flare, Lysandre.

"Two Team Rocket grunts are headed here, and at five o'clock they're going to try to take all of the Pokémon here, as well as you." Ace panted, ignoring Lysandre's presence. He simply didn't have time to get in a mess when there was one coming right now.

There was a silence while Sycamore thought about what Ace just said.

"Very well. How to we prepare?" He asked gravely.


	11. Chapter 11: What Is Wrong or Right

Ace – The Pokémon Warrior

**WOAH LOOK A CHAPTER**

**Yeah, a really awesome person favorited this story and my actual account so thanks to Readerfever for doing all that awesome stuff and generally being a cool person!**

**Anyway, after a bit of a cliff-hanger, we're gonna get into it! I hope you all enjoy this chapter!**

**-TheExplorerOfTime**

**PART TWO: THE ARRIVAL**

**Chapter 11: What Is Wrong or Right**

"Very well, how do we prepare?" Sycamore asked, a tone that brooked no argument from the protesting Lysandre behind him.

"All I know is that the Rocket grunts were coming here, and they were going to do something awful. I've already seen Team Galactic here, and what they tried to do was horrifying." Ace explained. He knew that the grunts would be here any second, so he tried to speed things up.

"What was that?" Lysandre butted in, eager to prevent the activity of the rival groups.

Ace explained all that had happened at Santalune City. Sycamore and Lysandre turned to each other, not entirely sure of what to make of this information.

"And you're SURE that it was Team Galactic?" Sycamore asked, trying to confirm his suspicions.

"Sycamore, I could name them" Ace calmly replied, sending a shiver of fear down the spines of everyone present.

_Ace banged on the cold, steel door. The lights went out, the only light coming from the hallway through a flap in his cell. He heard a deep voice emanate from seemingly nowhere._

"_Ace. Thank you for cooperating" boomed the leader of Team Galactic, Cyrus. Ace shook his head._

"_If you call blackmailing me and threatening to kill my whole family "cooperating", then you've got me there" Ace spat. He was disgusted by this man, who previously he had so much respect for. He brought shame to the League of Blue-Haired people _**_(AN: That doesn't really exist)_**_. _

_Cyrus chuckled, a sinister noise that threatened to engulf Ace. He was so tired, yet he had to keep fighting. "Oh Ace, if only anyone actually loved you" He crooned. Ace rolled his eyes. Not only was that a stupid reference to a new popular movie, but Cyrus should have known better than to use _that _against him._

"_Cyrus, Cyrus, Cyrus… I expected more from you. How are you going to be a leader of a new dimension if you use bad references and cliché interrogation methods? Now, tell me what you want before I come and get it from you myself" Ace growled. He was sick of having to wait, which Cyrus was acutely aware of._

"_Hmmm… I think I'll let you stew for a bit longer, Ace. And don't even think about breaking out." Cyrus replied coldly as the voice went dead, whatever source it was coming from switched off._

_Ace dropped his head, hiding his smirk with his mess of hair from his guards. _

"_Hey, what's your name?" Ace asked the guard on the right. Ace knew that many of the Tea Galactic grunts were simply kids who didn't have the money to support their families._

"_My name's Bastian and I'll care for you to remember that, Ace." The guard replied. This was not a child. Ace gulped. He knew that Cyrus was threatened by him, but not _that _much. _

"_And yours?" Ace asked the other guard._

"_M-my name's Jax, and I'm not s-scared of you!" the boy stuttered. Ace smiled, his face still obscured._

"_Nice to meet you two. By the way, I suggest you stand back" Ace called from inside of his cell and the door exploded. He heard the distinct noise of metal hitting flesh, a noise he was all too familiarised with. _

_He saw that Jax was backing away, ready to run and tell an admin. That was hardly necessary. Alarms were blaring everywhere, and Ace closed his eyes, locating the emergency deactivation source. He shook his head. Why did every building have one of these? He thought to himself. If they wanted me to not escape, they wouldn't put one in!_

_Ace chuckled as he activated it. "T MINUS THRITY SECONDS" blared a loud voice from the roof. _

"_Well, time for me to head off" Ace said as he gave a mock salute and blasted a hole in the wall using his Hydro Pump. As he ran away from the detonating building, he saw dozens upon dozens of grunts streaming out of the building. _

"_Well, that was easy" Ace grinned. There was no self-destruct button. He simply hacked into the intercom system and sent a message. It provided a successful distraction for Ace to slip into the undergrowth, feeling the nature around him for the first time in a very long time_

Sycamore, Ace and Lysandre were busy escorting the people and Pokémon of the laboratory out a secret back entrance when the grunts around, hauling behind them a cloaked object, much like the one Ace found and destroyed in Santalune City.

"Are you sure we've got the right place?" one of the grunts asked.

"Yeah! It says here, Sycamore Pokémon Lab, for Pokémon, research and…" the other grunt squinted at some smudged writing on his hand. "fundship! Wow, they must have a bunch of money!" the grunt exclaimed.

The female grunt hit him on the back of the head. "_Friendship, _you doofus, not _fund_ship!" she cried as she shook her head.

"Whatever, let's just get in there and nab some Pokémon!" the male grunt said as they came closer to the building. Suddenly, a cloaked figure appeared before them.

"I suggest you stop what you're about to do, unless you wish to be severely punished." The indistinguishable figure said in a low voice. The grunts scoffed.

"Yeah, whatever mate. We're Team Rocket! We're super powerful, and no one here is going to stop us!" the male grunt cheered. The cloaked figure shrugged and disappeared, to reveal Ace standing in the twilight glow.

"Welcome to Kalos. Where a super-human Pokémon Warrior dwells and Team Rocket has no power. Would you like a tour?" he asked mockingly to the grunts that had paled dramatically.

"Uhhh… what?" the grunts, incapable of articulated speech at their current predicament, drawled.

Ace shrugged. "Oh well, your mistake" he replied indifferently. Suddenly, the machine started smoking.

"What! Hey, you can't just do that! That's cheating! Come on, Drapion! Let's show this kid who's boss!" the female grunt cried as she sent out her Poison/Dark Scorpion monster.

"Yeah! Go Arbok, show 'em what you've got!" exclaimed the male as he tossed his Poké Ball, releasing his cobra Pokémon.

Ace was just preparing to battle them, when he was unceremoniously pushed aside by Professor Sycamore.

"Ace, show the rest to safety! We'll handle these grunts!" cried Sycamore.

"Hey! You're not allowed to call us grunts! Only _we're _allowed to call us grunts!" the male grunt remarked.

"Whatever. Go, Garchomp!" Sycamore said as his Ground-Dragon Pokémon came to his aid.

"Gyarados, help us out here!" Lysandre exclaimed as he sent out his Pokémon, a Water-Flying Pokémon which looked like a dragon but really wasn't. Seeing that the adults had the situation under control, he dashed back inside to help the stragglers who were still being evacuated.

**SORRY I RAN OUT OF TIME I PROMISE THE NEXT CHAPTER WILL BE LONGER I'M SORRY**


	12. Chapter 12: Far From Over

Ace – The Pokémon Warrior

**Hiya everyone, it's EoT back with another chapter**

**If you look back to the first two chapters, I made some alterations, changing the plot a bit and how the mind-control collars work.**

**Hope you enjoy this new chapter!**

**-TheExplorerOfTime**

**Chapter 12: Far From Over**

As Ace was hurrying down the corridor, Sycamore and Lysandre were battling the two grunts.

"Alright Gyrados, finish it off with a Hydro Pump!" he heard Lysandre cry from behind him. Ace knew that they were certainly capable trainers, but if more grunts came and added to the load, they may be overwhelmed.

When Ace reached the evacuation room, many of the heads turned to face him. There was Pokémon galore, from Cottonee to Diggersby, along with Sycamore's assistants and researchers. There were still people streaming into the room. Ace could see that many of the inhabitants of the room were on edge, and a fight could break out any second. Not only had they been ordered into the emergency evacuation room with no warning or reason, but they had absolutely no idea what was going on.

"Excuse me everyone! May I have your attention please?" Ace boomed, commanding attention from everyone in the room. Now, all of the heads were turned, and silence engulfed the room. You could hear a Klefki drop.

"I understand that many of you are worried, or scared, or angry. I can assure you that there is no cause for alarm." Ace started to explain, pausing to make sure everyone was paying attention.

"Some of you may be familiar with the criminal organisation Team Rocket" Ace continued, seeing a few people in the crowd nod their head.

"Well, it seems that they have journeyed to our beautiful region of Kalos. Two grunts were spotted and overhead at a nearby café. Their plans? Sap all of the energy from this place, then kidnap all of you, Pokémon and people alike." Ace explained, pausing for dramatic effect. He heard several gasps and mutterings in the crowd.

Ace waited for the noise to calm down, then continued.

"Luckily, we were warned just in time, by one of Sycamore's friends. Our Professor and Lysandre of Lysandre Labs are currently battling said grunts, and should hold them off until everyone has been evacuated. So, in case you didn't listen to ANY of that: It'll all be okay" Ace concluded.

A teenager, presumably there to get his Pokémon, spoke up.

"How do we know that-" he began, but Ace cut him off.

"Last time someone said that, the doors of the Pokémon Centre got blown off and everyone in said Centre had to fear for their lives. So shush." Ace ordered, his target sufficiently humbled.

Suddenly, Ace heard a small explosion come from the other end of the building.

"Okay everyone, you all stay here and stay calm. I need to go help our friends" he told the group as he sped off to the entrance.

The first thing he saw was the two doors that open into the lobby were broken off.

The second thing he noticed was that there was substantially more grunts than when he left.

And the third thing he noticed was both Lysandre and Sycamore being backed into a corner, dazed and bruised.

"Oh for the love of Mew and Arceus above…" Ace muttered as he strode into the chaos, quickly formulating a plan on the go.

"Hello everyone! My name's Ace and I'm going to be your host today!" he said, attracting the attention, desired or not, of everyone in the room.

"On our left here, you can see…" Ace swept his arm around to the left of the lobby, everyone's eyes following it.

"That you're about to get owned!" He cried as he fired two Water Shurikens at the group surrounding Sycamore and Lysandre, scattering it.

While, the grunts were still dazed, he shot right through the middle of the main group with an Aqua Jet, reaching the machine.

He could see that it was emitting strange, pulsating waves out of the back of it. It must be charging up something, Ace thought, just as the lights flickered.

"Huh. Somehow, they've got it working again, but it's a bit harder to fix a thousand pieces" Ace muttered to himself, jumping on top of the machine and firing Psycho Cuts at it, sheathing through the metal it was made of and cutting all of the wires.

"That should be better…" Ace murmured, pleased in his work. However, that moment did not last long, as several Poison Stings were launched at him, hitting him in the back and dealing damage.

Ace turned around, pure fury on his face. The remaining grunts had called upon their Pokémon, and had started attacking Ace. There was a Skuntank, an Ekans, three Golbat, three Raticate and a Mankey.

"Alright, time to get serious." Ace growled, layering his arms with Psychic energy and leapt off the dismantled machine.

He started by slashing at one of the Golbat, KOing it instantly, then pivoted around to parry a Super Fang from a Raticate, spearing it away. He felt a bite at his shoulder, and knocked another Raticate and a Golbat from it, sending them flying.

Ace assumed he could learn more from the commands of the trainers, but they were lost in the din of battle, and as long as Ace always attacked first, he didn't need to hear them anyway.

Ace charged at the remaining Raticate and the Ekans that was hiding behind it. With both arms, he span around, destroying anything in the immediate vicinity and fainting his two targets.

Swatting away the last Golbat and Mankey (who didn't even get a hit in), he stormed up to the Skuntank. It would clearly be the most powerful adversary on this battlefield. The Skuntank faced up to Ace, eager for a challenge.

The Skuntank moved first, unleashing a Flamethrower at Ace. Clearly, the trainer wasn't very smart, as Ace just continued walking through the blaze.

"Sorry about this" Ace said as he fired five close-range Water Shurikens at Skuntank, sending it into unconsciousness.

Ace, with all of his foes being taken care of, swivelled around to the Team Rocket grunts, all of them frozen in fear and awe.

"As I said. You got owned." Ace nodded. He could hear the sirens of the Pokémon Police nearby, so he decided to let them do their work.

"Everyone shall wait right here, and not move a muscle. Also, I shall be taking the machine, or what's left of it at least." Ace explained, leaving no room for argument.

As the police pulled away, Ace stood looking into the sunset with Sycamore and Lysandre behind him. He could sense the tension in the air, like there were a thousand questions in the air, waiting to be brought to life.

Ace, reckoning that the questions would come in their own time, turned to go attend the rattled residents of the laboratory.

"Wait, Ace!" Lysandre called after me. Ace turned to look back at him.

"Yes?" Ace replied. Lysandre took a breath.

"I got your letter. You're truly going to help?" He asked. Ace turned back.

"I changed my mind. I was new, and raw to the world. I also believed that it would be a good idea. However, I realised that if we want to achieve what you want to achieve, it will take a lot more work than that." Ace explained. He felt a pang of remorse. If I went with Lysandre, he thought, I could expect to be treated well, like a king. However… that's what Team Plasma want to do, use me for my energy. If Plasma couldn't have my… no one could.

"I am on a mission. A very important mission, at that. I am sorry, but that comes before everything else," Ace finished, striding away from the duo and leaving them in a stunned silence.

Lysandre stood up straight. "Very well" he muttered under his breath, and then turned to Sycamore. "Augustine, please, tell me more about the legendary Pokémon of Kalos. They sound… beautiful."


	13. Chapter 13 - Moving Right Along

Ace – The Water Type Warrior

**A Word from EoT**

**What's up guys, it's the Explorer of Time here coming 'atcha with another Ace chapter! I've been working on Star Crossed (GO READ IT), but then I realized that this story has 12 whole followers so GUESS WHO PLANNED OUT ALL THE CHAPTERS AND STUFF YEAAAH!  
Also I really need to tone down Ace a bit I sort of went a bit overboard last chapter!**

**Hope you guys enjoy this!**

**-EoT**

**Chapter 13: Moving Right Along**

Ace groaned.

He had been walking all day, ever since he left Lumiose City at about seven o'clock in the morning. Lunch time had been and gone, but he was too intent on setting distance between him and any Team Rocket grunts that might be following him.

Speaking of Team Rocket, Ace knew that they must have recognized him because of his over-the-top power display, and has (as usual), had caused his own problems while trying to fix others'.

Looking up at the horizon, he still couldn't see Camphier Town, the whole reason he had cut through Lumiose City in the first place. He had gone by a couple of small cottages, but he couldn't stop.

Ace looked behind him, but he still couldn't see or hear any sign of the grunts.

"Yeah, this should be an alright place to have a break" he murmured to himself, moving off to the left of the road into a small clearing.

Concealing his position with some branches and vines just to make sure no one could see him, Ace let out his two Pokémon partners, Ralts and Beldum, and his cooking equipment. As he set it up, he sent the two Pokémon to go and play around, but not too far.

Ace knew that he couldn't have much of a fire, so he just burnt a bit of wood to have some warm embers, and heated some left-over lasagna from the Sycamore Lab.

After a couple minutes, Ace sat down on the soft grass and started to eat his meal. He listened acutely to his surroundings, making sure that no one was sneaking up on him. His head was so full of thoughts and past events that he could hardly focus on his surroundings.

"Ugh… okay, I need to get all this sorted," he muttered. He pulled out a small, portable screen device (**Picture a Kindle**) and turned it on. A keyboard extended from it as he powered it up, and it launched into a typing document.

Ace collected his thoughts and took a deep breath. He typed on the page:

"Team Rocket and Team Galactic are in the Kalos region, along with Team Flare, of course. I can only assume that Aqua, Magma and Plasma are here as well, searching for energy"

This fact finally sunk into him now that they were on the page. Shaking off the ominous feeling he got from the sentence, he continued.

"Team Rocket attacked the lab in Lumiose City while the power was down. I can also assume that either they or a different team shut down the power. They all seem to think that there is some sort of energy burst around here."

Ace read what he wrote so far, and was happy with it. But there was two big questions still remaining. He typed them in, then underlined them and bolded them.

"**WHAT IS THE ENERGY SOURCE AND WHAT DO THE TEAMS WANT FROM IT?**"

Ace shivered. Of course, these were the looming questions. He thought long and hard.

"There are a few options. I, of course, have quite a lot of energy inside of me. I avoided the question when Rowan asked, but as long as Sycamore hasn't told anyone, I should be safe"

"Whatever Team Flare is doing could also be the source of this. I know that they're doing something dangerous, but not sure what. Will investigate"

Ace looked over his small document, and nodded, closing his tablet-computer-thing. He stood up, stretching, and started to pack up his equipment.

He gave a soft whistle, and his Pokémon came back to him. He withdrew everything back into their Poké Balls and hitched his pack back onto his shoulders.

Just as he was about to step out of his clearing, he heard a crack. A crack like that, he knew, was the indication of something breaking a stick.

Now with his mind clear, Ace stopped moving completely, closed his eyes and listened.

…

…

There it was again, the crack of a stick, this time followed by more. Ace could now hear a voice in a low whisper.

"Hmmm… I don't think anyone is here, Houndour. Your smell must be a bit off today" the voice said, presumably to its Pokémon. Ace could tell that the voice was a male, probably about his age.

The cracking commenced, now with added rustling. Ace could sense the person behind him, where he was just relaxing. Ace was stock still, making sure not to give any indication to alert the person of his presence.

"Huh, the coals are still warm. Guess there is someone around here" the person muttered. All movement in the clearing stopped for a short period of time.

"Person! I see you there with your fashionable blue trenchcoat! Come out now, or face the wrath of Zerach, master trainer!" he cried.

Ace let out a sigh. This was only some rookie trainer, not a Team grunt.

Ace turned around and walked out with his hands held high to indicate that he was unarmed.

"Hi, it's just me, no harm to anyone" Ace calmly explained.

The guy was about Ace's age, with dark red hair and brown eyes. He wore a black jacket (**blacket**) with red thread and cuffs, with a red undershirt and dark grey pants. All in all, a lot simpler and easier to describe than Ace's outfit.

Zerach studied Ace for a while, looking him up and down.

"Hmm… I see…" he mused quietly.

Ace attempted to move away from the strange teen, but said teen held out his hand as a stop gesture.

"Don't go anywhere yet, newbie! No matter whom you are or where you come from or what you wear, our eyes met! And that means, of course, that we must engage in a Pokémon battle!" Zerach cried, launching into a battle pose.

Ace sighed.

"Fine," he replied, "But I need to hurry along, so let's make this quick."

Zerach nodded. "Alright. But, if I win, you need to tell me about yourself! If I lose, I'll leave you alone and not bother you again!"

Ace didn't have the time for bets, but he knew that Zerach wouldn't give up, so he gave in.

"Sure, whatever. Let's get this show on the road. Beldum, front and centre!" Ace commanded, releasing his shiny partner from its Poké Ball.

"Alright! Come on, Houndour! Let's show 'em!" the other teen cried, launching his Poké Ball and beginning the battle.

"Wow! Is that a shiny Beldum? I haven't seen one of those before!" Zerach noted, clearly having fun already.

Ace nodded. This was his first battle with Beldum, and he wasn't about to let it go to waste.

"Alright, Beldum. Take Down, let's finish this quickly" he said, making the first move. Beldum gained speed, and rammed into the opposing Dark/Fire type.

Zerach flinched at the same time that his Pokémon was hit. "Hey! Don't think that it's over yet! Come on Houndour, use an Ember attack!" Zerach ordered. A fiery lump flew out of Houndour's mouth, and made direct impact with Ace's Pokémon.

Ace could tell that it was a strong and super effective hit, but Beldum still had fight left in it.

"Beldum, hang in there, and use a Take Down!" Ace commanded, caught up in the heat of the battle. This time, when Beldum made contact, both Pokémon went flying, hitting the ground hard.

"Houndour, are you okay?" Zerach timidly called, unable to see through the dust.

Out of the dust, only one figure rose. Zerach's Houndour was still standing, but Beldum had taken itself out with recoil.

"Alright! Great job Houndour!" Zerach cheered, going to call back his Pokémon.

"Hold on. It's not over yet" Ace called, withdrawing his fainted Beldum and unhooking his other Poké Ball from his belt.

"Ralts, front and centre!" Ace cried, sending out his other Pokémon in a flash of light.

"Great! More battling!" Zerach celebrated.

Before Zerach could even react, Ralts sent forth a shot of light as its move, Dazzling Gleam, OHKO-ing Houndour and leaving Ace the victor.

Zerach was stunned. "H-how did you do that? I didn't even hear you say anything!" he asked.

Ace turned away. "That's not important. Now I need to hurry even more. Stay safe, Zerach," he called behind him. Ace sensed movement behind him, presumably Zerach going to move but remembering his promise.

However, before Ace continued, he heard a soft noise coming from far away. He raised his hand to indicate silence, and listened more intently. It sounded like some sort of conversation, and it was headed their way.

Leaning back into the undergrowth, Ace sensed Zerach move up beside him, intent to see what Ace could already hear.

As the noise got closer, Ace could make out the words of the conversation.

"-was embarrassing. We need to try better to impress Boss." The first voice said. Ace sharply breathed in, realizing that those were voices of Team Galactic grunts.

He kept listening.

"Yeah, but we can't stop there. You know that everyone else is vying for this energy, and Camphier Town is going to be crawling with the others" the second voice replied.

Ace took a step back. From what he was hearing, Galactic knew of the other teams' presence, and were moving on through Camphier Town under the impression that said teams were already there.

"Yeah, whatever. I just want to know what we're fighting for. I never know what we're fighting for…" the first grunt grumbled as the footsteps faded back out.

Ace looked to Zerach.

"You're coming with me," he said, as he grabbed the other teen by the wrist and dragged him along through the underbrush.


	14. Chapter 14: Camphier Town

Ace – The Water Type Warrior

**A Word from EoT**

**Sup all you legends! Here's another Ace chapter for you all. Hope you enjoy!**

**-EoT**

**Chapter 14: Camphier Town**

The two youths slowly approached the town of Camphier. So far, they hadn't seen the Galactic grunts again, nor had any other grunts come along. Ace was still thinking about what Team Galactic's plan was, and had kept conversation to a minimum.

Zerach went to move forward, but Ace stopped him with a firm arm across Zerach's chest.

"Don't go yet. I'll make sure the coast is clear" he whispered. Zerach simply nodded, silent and not wanting to enact the wrath of his new friend.

Ace creeped towards the entry gate and peered through. Seeing no other people, he ducked behind a tree, out of sight to any possible onlookers. Ace closed his eyes and took a deep breath, preparing his psychic powers.

When he opened his eyes, he could see the outline and heartbeat of every living thing in Camphier Town. Scanning his mini-map, he kept a close eye out for any suspicious people, or people wearing Team Galactic outfits, which would probably classify as suspicious anyway.

Surprisingly, he couldn't sense anyone dangerous. That either meant that his psychic powers weren't working properly (a very low probability), or Team Galactic were simply lying.

He crept back to Zerach, reporting his discovery.

"Stupid grunts. I'm sure that the town is clean. We need to go in there anyway, grunts or no grunts" Zerach replied.

Ace nodded. He knew that the town held many secrets that he needed to know, so going in there was necessary. He had no idea why Zerach needed to go in there, but it was probably something to do with continuing on in his travels.

"Well, I guess since Galactic or the other teams aren't here, we should push on" Ace suggested. The sun was almost setting on the horizon, and he wanted to find somewhere to stay before it got too dark.

Zerach nodded in agreement, and they both passed through the entry gate.

As soon as they entered, Ace could see that the civilians were used to strangely-clad people. Normally, he would get a couple of strange looks from the town members wherever he went, but here no one even blinked in surprise. This told Ace a lot, and only went to strengthen his suspicions.

He looked dead ahead, to see the giant Shabboneau Castle, not in its prime, but still impressive.

"We should stop by at the Pokémon Centre first. Our Pokémon must be tired" Zerach piped up. Ace had completely forgotten that they had even had a battle, and nodded in agreement.

As they walked into the Pokémon Centre, Ace pulled at his collar.

"Arc, I really need to get some new clothes. This outfit was cool a few years ago. Only the Creator would gift me something like this," he groaned.

Zerach looked over. "Look, I wasn't going to say anything, but since even you can see it, yeah. I mean, if you're all about stealth, you should probably try wearing something a little less… flashy?" he suggested.

Ace glared at him. "Thanks, Zerach. Really appreciate it." he drawled. He was really beginning to wonder if being with this kid was such a great idea. Looking down, Ace realized that Zerach did have a point. He recalled that he bought some spare clothes and took them along with him at some point.

Digging through his bag, he found a plain blue pair of long cargo pants (with plenty of pockets, of course), a light pink undershirt, a blue jacket with some pink on the forearm and a cool looking silk-like garmet, looking like a coif but without the headpiece.

Slipping all of this much more practical and comfortable (but not quite as edgy) clothing on, he made his way out of the changing rooms, back to where Zerach was waiting for him.

There, a familiar face greeted them.

"Ah, Ace!" Professor Sycamore exclaimed. "How are you? Is your journey going well?" he asked.

Ace nodded. "Yes, I've already begun to see new Pokémon in this region, and I've got one Gym Badge so far. My friend Zerach and I are here to investigate some things about the power of Mega Evolution" he explained, gesturing to his new partner.

"Ah! Yes, Mega Evolution truly is a wondrous experience! I sincerely hope that you begin to understand and use it. It's one of the mysteries of the Pokémon world I'm trying to crack" Sycamore replied.

As Sycamore was talking, Ace noticed Zerach getting bored. Ace, wanting him to do something before he broke something expensive, pulled him aside.

"Hey man, while I talk to Sycamore, do you want to heal our Pokémon? It'd be great" he murmured.

Zerach nodded, and took Ace's and his Poké Balls to the Nurse Joy for this town.

Relieved, Ace turned back to Sycamore. "So, what brings you here, Augustine?" he asked.

"I was actually going to visit an old friend in Parfum Palace. I was just spending the night here. I like to get out of the lab and the city once in a while, although it is very nice," Sycamore replied.

Ace nodded, listening and absorbing the information. He didn't know much about Parfum Palace, but it would probably be worth checking it out. Plus, it was nice to talk to a familiar face. Sycamore was always a good person to talk to, never without a smile and a story.

Ace was jarred out of his thoughts by Zerach, now back from his little escapade.

"Hey Ace, Nurse Joy said that she hasn't seen any suspicious people pass by through here, but we could ask some of the officers around here" he informed Ace.

"Thanks Zerach, but it should be fine. If I can't find them, I doubt the police would have," Ace replied.

Sycamore looked questioning at Ace. "Suspicious people?" he asked, "what sort?"

Ace explained his predicament to Sycamore, coming into contact with the many teams of the world.

Sycamore nodded sagely. "I see. I too have heard whispers of more teams. Of course, we ran into Team Rocket some time ago, but I hate to think why the others are here," he said, shivering. "Make sure you look after yourself out there, alright?"

Ace smiled, and placed his hand on the professor's shoulder. "Of course, Augustine, you know I'm always alert. Don't forget to look after yourself as well," he advised.

Sycamore laughed heartily, a sound that resonated through Ace. This sort of joy was few and far between in his journey, so it was nice to be refreshed by some positive company. Though, he thought, if Zerach continues travelling with him, then he might have more company than he expected on this adventure.

"I'll be fine, Ace. I'll catch you later. Don't forget, you can always contact me through the Holo Caster" Sycamore reminded.

"Naturally." Ace replied with a wave, as the two trainers departed out of the Pokémon Centre.

Sycamore gazed at them as they exited.

"I really do hope that he's careful," he sighed. "He may have gotten over his head this time"


	15. Chapter 15: The Palace of Kings

Ace – The Water Type Warrior

**A Word from EoT**

**Yeah… I'm getting to my goal of 70 chapters!**

**Slowly…**

**-EoT**

**Chapter 15: The Palace of Kings**

The castle dominated most of the view, easily towering above the small houses and flora of Camphier Town.

"I'm assuming this is the right place," Zerach stated, with a questioning tilt in his voice.

"Well, unless there's another huge castle in this town which is also called Shabboneau Castle, yeah. It is" Ace explained sarcastically.

Noting the tone of Ace's voice, Zerach declined to return the sentiment, and instead walked up to the doors, still made of thick wood, bound with metal beams.

Looking back at Ace to make sure he was prepared, Zerach knocked with the steel knocker.

"Come in!" a voice could be heard, muffled by the shut doors and thick walls.

Ace walked up to Zerach, and opened the large doors with him.

Inside, the castle was nicely lit, but that seemed to be the only upkept thing about it. The walls were crumbling, letting in nature and light from the outside, the rugs and material were faded and starting to show signs of deterioration. However, the focal point of the main room was a flute in a giant, embellished gold case.

A man in a Black Belt getup was standing nearby it. "Hey! We don't get visitors very often! Welcome to the great Shabboneau Castle! Well… it used to be great…" the man tired out at the end of his otherwise exuberant greeting. He looked around and the crumbling walls and weeds growing from the floor.

His attitude changed quickly though, swinging back to ruthless optimism. "But that doesn't matter! What does matter is that we have visitors! My name is Kaje, and I'll be your guide for today! If you need any help or information, I'm here to help!" Kaje explained enthusiastically.

Both of the boys nodded their heads. Ace spoke up first.

"Well, we are investigating something. Do you know much about Mega Evolution?" Ace asked, getting straight to the point, no messing around.

Kaje raised his eyebrows, clearly surprised. "Well… just a little bit. I didn't know it was even common knowledge anymore…" he muttered.

Ace and Zerach looked at each other, interested in the man's behavior. True, he did hear it from his magical source (AN: sourcerer) Lizbeth, but he still would have believed that more people would have known.

Kaje continued. "This castle used to be home to numerous strong trainers and their Pokémon. Many of these trainers came from Shalour City, known for their incredibly powerful trainers and their tactics. Here, they congregated and trained, so they could learn more about their Pokémon. There were rumours that some of these Pokémon reached a higher form, one powerful enough to tap into the hidden power of Pokémon that used a special stone and a bond between their trainers. These were called Mega Evolutions," he explained, "I've seen a few in my time, almost all of them here. They are incredibly strong, so strong that no normal Pokémon could ever possibly stand up to them. Apparently, some trainers even left their stones in this castle, but they would be useless without the Pokémon or the bond between Pokémon and trainer."

Ace and Zerach listened intently to the Black Belt, until he stopped and let them speak.

"So, what you're saying is that with a special stone and a bond between them, trainers are able to harness a new, powerful form?" Ace asked.

Kaje nodded. "That's right. I'm sure that there's some books in Parfum Palace about it as well, and there are some very intelligent people there, if you want to look there," he explained, with a hint of sadness when he mentioned the palace. Ace ignored the tone, probably something the man himself needed to deal with. He did, however, pay attention to the valuable information that he was given by Kaje.

"Alright then, I suppose that's decided. We'll look around here for a little bit and then move out to Route 6, follow that to Parfum Palace," Ace explained to his companion. Zerach nodded in response.

"Okay, that's enough nodding. Thanks for the help, Kaje, we really appreciate it," he said, thanking the Black Belt.

Kaje smiled. "Anything I can do to help, friends. Enjoy your time here!" he replied with enthusiasm.

Ace waited for Zerach to go upstairs, so he could be alone with Kaje. He knew that the place was falling into disrepair, and desperately needed some money. He felt his pocket, rubbing his hand against the smooth surface of one of his gems in his pocket.

As he passed Kaje, he pulled one out of his pocket and handed it to him. "Here, take this. You need it," Ace ordered.

Kaje's eyes widened. "This is…. I can't take this!" he replied, trying to refuse the gift.

But Ace would have none of it, pressing the precious stone into his hand. "Don't let this place be forgotten. It's important for your culture," he affirmed, walking upstairs before Kaje could say anything else.

When Ace arrived on the same floor as Zerach, he spotted him shifting through some rubble that had fallen down from the floor above.

"What do you think you're doing?" Ace asked as he walked up to him.

Zerach jumped up and turned around to face his new friend, dust and grime covering his hands and face. "I'm looking for some type of relic, maybe a stone or something to get some more information of what exactly we're doing," he explained, gesturing to a pile of small stones and junk, glittering in the sunlight filtering in through various holes in the wall and roof.

Ace inspected the pile closely, trying to sort the useless from the interesting. Zerach sat down next to him, clearly not worried about getting his outfit tarnished.

"Huh… looks like there's some interesting stuff here. A couple of torn pages - those might be useful, some shining stones and –" Ace was cut off before he could finish his sentence by a giant tremor, like the castle itself shook.

When it subsided, the two of them looked around to make sure nothing was damaged. A small amount of grey dust was trickling down from the ceiling, but that seemed to be it.

"Should we investigate?" Zerach asked, slightly scared at the sudden shake.

Ace shook his head. "I doubt it was anything damaging. We'll finish up here and then head back down, maybe ask Kaje about it," he replied.

Before they could do much, Kaje ran upstairs to talk to them. "Are you guys alright?" the man asked, clearly on edge.

Both of the trainers nodded, and the relief on Kaje's face was incredibly obvious.

"Phew, thank goodness. That Pokémon sure is something…" he said.

Ace raised an eyebrow. "A Pokémon did that?"

"Ah, of course, you're not from around here, are you? About every time this year, a Snorlax comes down from the mountains and likes to block the bridge leading to Route 7. It causes some inconveniences in the town, but normally some trainer comes around and makes it leave. I kind of feel sorry for it, though. I'm sure there's an easier way to do it, but the Poké Flute is still in the possession of Parfum Palace…" Kaje explained, trailing off towards the end.

Zerach turned to Ace, face lit up. "That's what we'll do, Ace! We can go learn about Mega Evolution, _and_ get the Poké Flute at the same time!" the black-haired boy said, bouncing on the balls of his feet, clearly excited to get something done.

Ace nodded, and turned back to Kaje. "Well, I guess that's it then. We'll go to Parfum Palace, and kill two Pidgey with one stone, figuratively," he said. "But first…" Ace turned to the still large pile of things Zerach discovered, "we should probably finish this job."


End file.
